I have just had a frustrating couple of weeks trying to get my Verada LPG system serviced.

This system was installed by ULA Gas in Geelong and they are out of business now. Shut down by the AAFRB who then don't actually explain where I go from here.

Other local LPG installers don't want to touch the system (all the money they make is on conversions!).

Must say this is a very bad example of what happens when government come in offer subsidies, the cowboys spring from everywhere.

The good news now:

I called a UK supplier/installer to discuss my problems and he said it is not "poor equipment". All problems are either bad installation or incorrect setup.

I ordered the ECU software and cable from him. They arrived last week.

After performing these checks:

1. check filters
2. Check Pressure and flow from tank.
3. Check reducer pressure

I plugged in the ECU software. The software is simple to use.

First thing, the car was struggling on any loads above 1/4 throttle, misfires etc.

The software identified that the reducer pressure was too low for auto-calibration. I bumped this up to 100 Kpa from 70 Kpa.

Since the software has auto-calibrate, you just let it run through a cycle and adjustments are made to the LPG injector duration/corrections.

Once this was complete, the car seemed to be running fine.

Next step is the map sensor calibration. You run the car for 10 minutes on all loads on petrol. Easiest way was to zoom along the Geelong ring road, take in a few hills, a bit of hard acceleration and gentle cruising.

Repeat the same for LPG and you get a complete mapping analysis for both fuels. Apply the corrections and it's all done.

A local Geelong installer quoted $1500 for various changes they claimed were absolutely necessary because they said the Versus setup is "rubbish".

I have news for them and anyone who has a similar system, the fix is just calibration.

There's also the possibility that ULA fitted injectors that are too small for a 3.5 litre engine. Next time the plenum chamber is off, if I don't have 3.0mm injectors, I'll drill them out and recalibrate.

The AAFRB are as useful as T-TS on a BULL.

Well done, a good quick read too. Great to see success against the odds.

Well done - here is the manufacturer/suppliers online site with links to the technical data for some of their equipment.
They will send detailed catalogues on request as well.
Refreshing - a Polish company site with better English language than many native English speakers sites.

http://www.versusgas.com/str.php?st=2

http://www.versusgas.com/UserFiles/SGI%20VERSUS%20KITS%20and%20Parts%20CATALOGUE%2008 2010.pdf

As I said to you when we met up, I'm very interested to see if it maintains the new tune or if it reverts back after a few tanks, as my system did.

Keep us updated! :)

Update after a couple of months.

The car is still running OK. We drove to Canberra and back last weekend. Remaining problem is rough performance on mid-throttle around 80km/H when the car is hot or on hot days.

I asked the UK dealer if he would send me some 3.00mm injector nozzles but he won't deal outside the UK.

After I described the problem with no suppliers here, he advised me to drill out the nozzles to 2.7 mm. I've just done that and re-calibrated. The injector duration has come back to 2.4 mSec from 2.7 mSec. It's back in to a recommended value now.

Tomorrow I will run the map sensor calibration and hopefully it will be all good.

Any updates on this?

Any updates on this?

Frans, another interested person came to my place at the weekend. He has a 6 cylinder Falcon (BF I think) with a Versus conversion.

Had the same problem we had with yours, the software didn't recognise the ECU. I installed the software that came with the lead instead of the downloaded Versus software. That makes a difference, so it looks like you both have a later model ECU than me. Yours must be the 2.0 version and mine is 1.n.

Anyways, we ran the calibration and map sensor setup and it did appear that Frans system is not running as lean as mine. He was having problems with stall/idle and he emailed me a couple of days later to say that the car seemed to be running better now. Hopefully he'll see this and update how he is progressing.

My Verada has just had a 90,000 Km service. I decided to get it done a bit early (88,000 kms) because the car is seven years old. So I picked it up today with new Iridium plugs, complete transmission oil and flush, timing belt. So now's the time for me to have another go at tuning the setup. I plan to drill those nozzles out to 3.2mm to see if I can get the mixture less lean. Other than hunting problems when the car is hot at mid-throttle, it's running fine.

One more thing, I upped the reducer pressure to 130 Kpa on Frans car to try and get more gas in. Mine is also running at that pressure.

I'll update more next week.

Hi Wayne.
I recieved my software and lead through the post last week. I printed out the PDF file manuals and laminated then as well. I then progessed to installing the software on my computer. It became obvious that the original disk needs to stay in the drive for the software to operate! I then copied the original disk and used the copy which worked OK.

I ran the Auto calibrate feature and the car now idles better on LPG than when on petrol. Small victory but progress!

The calibration result still indicates that the car is running too lean. I also need to increase the diameter of the injectors to suite the motor size. I'm not too confident so will be very interested in your results.

Frans

As most of the SVI components originate from Europe, because they have been faced with higher fuel costs forever, most "kits" are roughly grouped to suit their vehicles, which are predominately smaller vehicles & are mostly 4 cyl. I was surprised to find in Europe a V6 3.5 Ltr 155 kW (6G74) engine is definitely considered to be a high performance engine. They (eg AC.com.pl makers of STAG 300 ECU) publish a list "Choosing the LPG system components" which lists most of the vehicles & what injectors & vaporisers they recommend. I was surprised to find they probably suggest either a large capacity vaporiser or 2 x STD vaporisers to flow the amount of gas required at WOT. I read plenty of posts on AMC by owners explaining that their vehicle reverts back to petrol when you really step on it. Is this really a good thing? Or is it just the vaporiser unable to provide the flow required & should have been larger in the first place?
Most of the larger established firms in Australia have probably learnt from experience what works & what doesn't, and charge accordingly although in all fairness, a couple of days labour does add up to a sizeable amount of money.
As is the norm with Government subsidies, they attract those with less experience who just whack a kit on that ultimately doesn't work to well. It is really disappointing that other installers want to ignore you & denigrate the system you have. It is the sign of a very immature industry that can't look past today so as to go into the future.
Your post confirmed what I have believed for a while & is encouraging in that you were able to sort it out yourself. The really sad part is that there are others that not only don't have the mechanical bent or aptitude to tackle these things & end up replacing the system or in a lot of instances people would just have it removed & revert to petrol, then bad mouth the LPG industry. Who would blame them?

Hi there
Need help With getting soft ware For Versus LPG Gas Conversions.

..............

One more thing, I upped the reducer pressure to 130 Kpa on Frans car to try and get more gas in. Mine is also running at that pressure.



On my current setup, the reducer pressure is set to 200 Kpa? Everything seems to be running fine. Is yours high enough or is mine too high possibly?

Oh, I'll be stripping that car late July so will have your parts for you then. :)

Hi there
Need help With getting soft ware For Versus LPG Gas Conversions.

You can order it here:

http://www.autogas-kit.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=13&zenid=529f0e94b1a42747fa2f65a68303195e

On my current setup, the reducer pressure is set to 200 Kpa? Everything seems to be running fine. Is yours high enough or is mine too high possibly?

Oh, I'll be stripping that car late July so will have your parts for you then. :)

I don't think mine will go that high. The setup instructions suggest starting at 100 Kpa.

Thanks for the offer of the parts. We'll talk in July.

Hi there
Need help With getting soft ware For Versus LPG Gas Conversions.

Hi my name is Steve ,
have been installing Lpg systems for the last 21 years and have been recently sent work redirected via Versus in Poland. Most badly installed jobs that have been from ULA Gas Geelong. If you need help with your Versus equipment u can call me on 0419206626

Hi my name is Steve ,
have been installing Lpg systems for the last 21 years and have been recently sent work redirected via Versus in Poland. Most badly installed jobs that have been from ULA Gas Geelong. If you need help with your Versus equipment u can call me on 0419206626

Steve, what have you found so far in these ULA installs?

Is the main problem injector sizes? Reducer/vaporiser performance? ECU setup? Pipe lengths? Is this just for gas injection or ring-mixer systems too?

Did ULA make the same mistake for every install?

Where is your workshop?

Hi Wayne.
I recieved my software and lead through the post last week. I printed out the PDF file manuals and laminated then as well. I then progessed to installing the software on my computer. It became obvious that the original disk needs to stay in the drive for the software to operate! I then copied the original disk and used the copy which worked OK.

Frans

Did you trying copying the complete CD to a directory on your hardf drive and then install the software from there? - May remove the need to have the disk in the drive.